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Female Masculinity of Fa Mulan and Its Impact Towards Her Relationship with Male Characters in Disney Movie Mulan

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Female Masculinity of Fa Mulan and Its Impact Towards Her Relationship with Male Characters in Disney Movie Mulan View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Jurnal Mahasiswa Universitas Negeri Surabaya Female Masculinity of Fa Mulan and its Impact towards her Relationship with Male Characters in Disney Movie Mulan FEMALE MASCULINITY OF FA MULAN AND ITS IMPACT TOWARDS HER RELATIONSHIP WITH MALE CHARACTERS IN DISNEY MOVIE MULAN Retno Sulistia English Literature Study Program, Faculty of Languages and Arts, State University of Surabaya [email protected] Abstract This study is aims at revealing the female masculinity or masculine character reflected in the character of Fa Mulan as depicted in Disney Movie Mulan and how the masculinity of her influences her idea in the relationship with the opposite gender. This literary study employs the concept of masculinity and female masculinity, the concept of gender role and those theories are used to analyze Fa Mulan’s masculinity and its impact on her relationship with male characters. The main data of this study is taken from Disney Movie Mulan in the form of captured scenes that represent the problems of the study. Based on the analysis, this study reveals that: Fa Mulan has more masculine character than feminine. She almost has the entire masculine characteristic in gender stereotypes. Her masculinity also gives impact towards her idea of relationship with her opposite gender. Keywords: gender stereotype, masculinity, femininity, female masculinity, the concept of masculinity Abstrak Tujuan ditulisnya skripsi ini adalah untuk membongkar apakah Fa Mulan yang notabenenya seorang gadis, memiliki karakteristik seorang pria dan dia memiliki sikap dan sifat yang kepria-prian. Sangat diketahui bahwa yang memiliki kemaskulinan ialah mereka yang berjender pria dan mereka yang memiliki kefeminitasan ialah mereka yang berjender wanita. Tujuan kedua ialah untuk mengungkapkan bahwa kemaskulinan yang ia miliki juga memiliki andil besar terhadap perkembangan perasaan dan pandangannya terhadap hubungan yang melibatkan asmara terhadap lawan jenisnya. Beberapa teori dan konsep telah disajikan untuk membantu dan mempermudah analisa terhadap karakter Mulan, seperti konsep maskulinitas oleh Peter Lehman dan wanita maskulin oleh Judith Halberstam, selain itu pandangan tentang stereotype terhadap jender juga dihadirkan untuk mempermudah analisa. Sedangkan data data di peroleh dari film animasi garapan Disney dalam bentuk tangkapan per scene dalam film. Dari hasil analisa didapatkan hasil bahwa Mulan memiliki karakteristik seorang pria dalam dirinya lebih banyak daripada kewanitaannya. Dia hampir memiliki semua karakteristik pria yang disebutkan dalam stereotype jender. Dan, diketahui pula bahwa kemaskulinannya memberikan dampak terhadap prkembangan perasaan dan pandangannya terhadap hubugan berbau asmara dengan lawan jenisnya. Kata Kunci: jender, maskulin, feminism, wanita masculine, konsep kemaskulinan. stand, and willing to take a risks. Feminine characteristics INTRODUCTION are: affectionate, cheerful, childlike, compassionate, does When the word ‘masculine’ is mentioned, the first not use harsh language, eager to soothe hurt feelings, thing that will be pooping out of everyone’s thought is a feminine, flatter able, gentle, gullible, loves children, characteristic of man with a handsome face, strong body, loyal, sensitive to the needs of others, shy, soft spoken, brave and macho. Similarly, when the word ‘feminine’ is sympathetic, tender, understanding, warm and yielding. mentioned, the characteristic of a beautiful and charming In fact, feminine is not always identically with woman woman will pooped out in thought. It is stressed in and masculine is not always identically with man. In Pretince and Carranza (Pretince and Carranza) work that Female Masculinity, Halberstam stated that: quoted criteria which is yielded the 20 feminine and “It is crucial that masculinity does not belong to men, masculine characteristics that appear on the Bem Sex Role has not produced only by men and does not properly Inventory (BSRI). Masculine characteristics are: acts as a expressed male heterosexuality… what we call leader, aggressive, ambitious, analytical, assertive, ‘masculinity’ has also been produced by masculine athletic, competitive, defends own beliefs, dominant, women, gender deviants, and often lesbians. “(7-24) forceful, has leadership abilities, independent, Based on the theory above we can see that masculine individualistic, makes decision easily, masculine, self- characteristic is not only owned by a man but also by a reliant, self-sufficient, strong personality, willing to take a 12 Litera-Kultura. Volume 04 no. 03 Year 2016, 12-19 woman. Essentially, masculinity and femininity are The writer methods for this literary analysis were to images which are constructed by society not based on sex. first read and analyzed the issues that deal with Chinese Gender is socially constructed definition of woman Ballad Ode Mulan which is adapted into Disney Movie and man; it is not the same as sex – biological Mulan. After determining the character’s description, characteristic of women and men. Women are born female masculinity will be analyzed at the major through feminine and men are born masculine, these gender the way the major characters occupy her roles in the categories are constructed by society (Tyson). Each family and in the society. The analysis on the phase is individual should have two qualities, feminine or employed the theories of related literature, that are female masculine, only later, which attitude is more dominant of masculinity in the society and masculinity stain paradigm those individual that will shape the identity. Somehow, in order to give a vivid portrait of the major character’s woman also needs masculinity in their life, so she can problem on her masculinity. Moreover, the female have the spirit of leadership and independency. character will be analyzed in a detailed way by using There are some of the literary works that contain the gender study approach. issue of female masculinity such as; Chinese Ballad Mulan which also well-known after Disney adopted it into the cinema. The literary work begins with a young lady – THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK teenager that sacrifices herself to save her beloved ones. In accordance with statement of the problems, several Fa Mulan is a young lady, not a feminine one, she has a theories are arranged to support the analysis. The theories trouble in finding a future husband because of it, and the presented here are; theories of masculinity, concept of one that makes them similar is their bravery to sacrifice female masculinity by Peter Lehman, and also gender role their selves in fighting arenas. Mulan pretends to act like a and gender stereotype. man, dressed like a man, and come to a real war as a The study will review definition and types of soldier to safe her father. She became a heroine not just characters. This study is going to facilitating mainly for her father but also her kingdom. Mulan also gifted by gender theories related to the conventional concept of the god to have the qualities that usually given to boys. masculinity. The theories of masculinity will be used to Mulan is the obvious examples of the fictional character analyze Fa Mulan as the major character. that represent the female masculinity as well depicted in Meanwhile, the concept of female masculinity and two literary works they are in. gender role and gender stereotype will consist of the According to the background study above, the goal of definitions, the qualifications, and how gender constructs this literary analysis is to analyze Mulan’s female masculinity will be discussed in this chapter. The theories masculinity and its impact towards her relationship with will be used to analyze Fa Mulan’s masculinity. male characters in the story. There are some theories that The Concept of Masculinity and Female are used in this literary analysis is such as; genders Masculinity studies, the concept of masculinity by Peter Lehman and According to Little John as quoted in Mediana Female Masculinity by Judith Halberstam and other Anggarwati’s thesis Jo March’s Masculinity and Its additional theories to support the main theories. Impact on Her idea of Marriage as Depicted in Lousia May Alcott’s Good Wives (15) gender and sex are two METHOD different things, gender is constructed by society – means Regarding the organization of this study, this study it is not only about the physical appearance, but it is falls under the umbrella of literacy criticism. Therefore, actually undergone for every human, including language, textual analysis a literary work is used for this study and is job, role in the family and so on, while sex is the elaborated as follows: biological or genetic component if you are born man so The source of the data mainly from Chinese Ballad you are man and if you are born woman so you are Ode Mulan which is adapted into Disney Movie Mulan. woman. According to Tyson gender and sex are different; From the source of the data, the writer gains the data in sex refers to biological constitution as a female or a male, form captured scenes from the movie. Those data used as while gender refers to the cultural programming as the main data to run the research. feminine or masculine (Tyson 85). In other word we can Secondary data which can take from many kinds of conclude that not all sexes reflect their gender, it means books, journals, and previous study about the topic. The that not all women born feminine or not all men born references are support the theoretical foundation of masculine. Gender is constructed by society but sexes are analysis. The discourse of female masculinity is added to biological component of human. comprehend Chinese Ballad Ode Mulan which is adapted Moreover, according to a book entitled A New into Disney Movie Mulan. Psychological of Women (Lips 19) defines gender as 13 Female Masculinity of Fa Mulan and its Impact towards her Relationship with Male Characters in Disney Movie Mulan cultural expectations for women and men. It means that warmth and relaxed feeling, and also difficult to response gender is a concept used in identifying the differences the things that are associated with emotions and feelings.
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